When Thameslink Trains Went to Guildford

Did you know there was a few years back in the early 1990's when Thameslink ran services through Central London, and then went down to Croydon, Sutton, Epsom all the way to Guildford.
Let's go back to a time when cassette tapes were the only way to listen to music when on the train ...
NB. There is a fabulous photo of a Class 319 at Effingham Junction with the Network SouthEast clock here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ef...
#thameslink

Пікірлер: 671

  • @geofftech2
    @geofftech22 ай бұрын

    If my memory serves me right, Thameslink to Guildford may have started in June 1990 ... and lasted two years until June 1992 when it was cut back to West Croydon, which itself only lasted two years until 1994! But if you have any better recollection of dates, please comment away ... !

  • @randomtrainfan6501

    @randomtrainfan6501

    2 ай бұрын

    On the mention of West Croydon there was a branch from there to Wimbledon. One of the many old lines replaced by tramlink. It closed in 1997 and for it's last few years used class 456 emus. It used that small bay platform you can see whenever approaching west Croydon. it was also heavily overgrown and worn out during the 90s. Must've been an interesting journey with tiny platforms and 2 car units

  • @user-hq1df3pr5l

    @user-hq1df3pr5l

    2 ай бұрын

    Thameslink did technically run within the past 5 years. When the London Bridge trains were introduced regularly from Epsom pre-covid, they used to run to Guildford (in peak), and were on the system as Thameslink (announced as Thameslink on the platform), although ran using Southern stock. Now though, they don't run to Guildford, and are marked as Southern.

  • @haden3828

    @haden3828

    2 ай бұрын

    That’s correct. Southern got rid of the service. It’s on the southern map 2019 version

  • @DanBen07

    @DanBen07

    2 ай бұрын

    Some years later there was a South West trains from Guildford to West Croydon that got discontinued at some point. I remember seeing that on some London and Southeast train maps.

  • @jonathancombe9991

    @jonathancombe9991

    2 ай бұрын

    I think they were proposed to return to Guildford as part of what was then Thameslink 2000 as well, though they never did. Guildford has lost a lot of useful services over the years. Thameslink has gone, all Crosscounty has gone and the South Western service is much reduced (no Guildford to Waterloo via Woking stopping service off peak, fewer trains south to Haslemere and Portsmouth too).

  • @rachelwalker7091
    @rachelwalker70912 ай бұрын

    Middle aged man reminiscing about a regular train journey from 30 years ago. Who cares? We do because you make us care Geoff. Thanks for another beautiful soulful film.

  • @Eric_Hunt194
    @Eric_Hunt1942 ай бұрын

    "Sorry I'm late, there was a points failure" "At Effingham Junction?" "No, at effing Surbiton!"

  • @stevewoodard527
    @stevewoodard5272 ай бұрын

    A melancholy retrospective, beautifully produced -- well done! Wait until you're 75, as I am now, and things like this will become even more meaningful. Thanks for making this, from Arizona.

  • @geofftech2

    @geofftech2

    2 ай бұрын

    thanks Steve ... lovely comment. I hope to still be travelling the railways at 75!

  • @GaryJohnWalker1

    @GaryJohnWalker1

    2 ай бұрын

    The words I was about to write

  • @maryreichle7623

    @maryreichle7623

    2 ай бұрын

    Thanks Geoff. There is something about a re visit to the commutes of our best years, cthanjs so much.

  • @lizgoodyear4657

    @lizgoodyear4657

    2 ай бұрын

    That took me back 60 years! We lived in Fetcham, my mother didn't drive so we would catch the bus to Stoke D'Abernon then train to Guildford. Coming home we would get off at Effingham Junction and I would look for the Leatherhead train coming out the sidings just like you remembered!

  • @LionheartLRJ
    @LionheartLRJ2 ай бұрын

    These "smaller" videos you make occasionally have a real power to them and cut incredibly deep and actually make me feel quite emotional. I recently (A few years now) moved away from London having lived there all my life and find myself thinking and reminiscing about my commutes, to school, to social events, to other things, and how some of those things just don't exist now. But yeah, beautiful video, cheers Geoff ♥

  • @ANorthernSoutherner
    @ANorthernSoutherner2 ай бұрын

    Immediately guessed it had to be Tim on the keys! We spend days, weeks, months of our lives commuting, and some of it can be beautiful 😅

  • @musiqtee

    @musiqtee

    2 ай бұрын

    I was going to write “That must be Tim playing…” but sure, I’m too slow… 😅 He played the verse from ‘Take on me’, and later Geoff cited a bit of lyrics from it… (cheating, I’m 🇳🇴‘Ian…)

  • @thekingofming

    @thekingofming

    2 ай бұрын

    I came here to say the same. Great to see collabs with similar minded KZreadrs

  • @LadyGavGav

    @LadyGavGav

    2 ай бұрын

    I was going to say the same, but I didn't: It's better to be safe than sorry.

  • @ScottEvil

    @ScottEvil

    2 ай бұрын

    Came here to say the same. Odd that the music kept stopping right before the Take On Me line.

  • @five-o5362

    @five-o5362

    2 ай бұрын

    None of commuting is beautiful, you idolise it only because you miss your old selph.

  • @anoaktree
    @anoaktree2 ай бұрын

    I feel like we treat commutes as a sort of lost time, that just disappears. So it is so nice getting to see that it isn't just a waste and that we do make memories.

  • @keithparker1346

    @keithparker1346

    2 ай бұрын

    I commuted for years and at first hated it but then realised I could use the time to relax read and listen to music

  • @markiliff
    @markiliff2 ай бұрын

    My mum was involved in Guildford Borough Council around that time and told of a man living near London Road station who was *incensed* that some trains were now going through without stopping because they *made his teacups rattle*. What memories he must have!

  • @spbracey7
    @spbracey72 ай бұрын

    What I thought was going to be a simple history lesson on Thameslink Trains running to Guildford turned out to be a deeply personal contemplation on the passage of time and how we must enjoy the moment however banal the occasion. Well done Geoff, you are so good at baring your soul and making us all think about living in the now. Wonderful stuff.

  • @russbrooker5571
    @russbrooker55712 ай бұрын

    I was a driver at Selhurst in the early 90's & drove class 319's from Selhurst to Guildford . Used to go as far as Farringdon on return, put the pan up then grub at Farringdon.

  • @Buzerio
    @BuzerioАй бұрын

    As someone who went to Unit in Guildford and hasn't been back since, a video about the passage of time centering around Guildford hits hard

  • @MrDavil43
    @MrDavil432 ай бұрын

    When I use Guildford station I often stroll to the south end where the multi story car park is, but in my mind's eye the old steam depot is still there as in my spotting days. On one of which I tried to get into the shed by politely asking at the entrance on the adjacent road bridge. The chap who answered my knock asked me what classes of loco I would expect to find there and I proudly reeled off "N's, U's, Ivatt 2MT's, a B4..." upon which he said "Quite right, so you know what's there so no need for you to go and see. Now clear off!"

  • @andydishman9754
    @andydishman97542 ай бұрын

    “We only have now.” Said to me years ago by a retired Policeman. Make the very most of each day, be friendly, be nice, it may be your last. A beautiful video Geoff, thank you.

  • @fyshfysh
    @fyshfysh2 ай бұрын

    i can't be the only one who immediately checked the video length was in fact 11 minutes 12 seconds 😁. lovely video and lovely message

  • @garybroadhurst3548

    @garybroadhurst3548

    2 ай бұрын

    Nope, me too. This makes me a little concerned (in a nice way) about have thoughtful and obsessive, even, Geoff is with his video content. Well done though!

  • @thetiredscot7821
    @thetiredscot7821Ай бұрын

    I'm never goof at writing youtube comments but man this hits hard. These past couple of months have been rough for me but I know no matter what things will get better and that despite everything I have been living and will continue to do so. Thanks Geoff, I know everything will work out in the end.

  • @johnbrogan111
    @johnbrogan1112 ай бұрын

    When I heard the piano music, I knew Tim Traveller was going to be involved :) Great video Geoff!

  • @Sim0nTrains
    @Sim0nTrains2 ай бұрын

    The message at the end was just brilliant about enjoying the summer, enjoying the lighter evenings, go and ride trains, travel to random stations and make your own memories and years to come you have your own nostalgia. Memories I made over the years have been brilliant and looking forward to making some more and there are days that I remember like they were only yesterday. Great video Geoff it was produced brilliantly and love one of your stories from the past.

  • @marblestoday4526
    @marblestoday45262 ай бұрын

    There’s a strange ritual in taking the same journey every day, filled with tiny patterns that we barely ever notice, thank you Geoff for giving an ode to the commute

  • @ToonTom37
    @ToonTom372 ай бұрын

    As a Canadian from a region where a train comes through twice or thrice a week, I'd give my right arm to have memories like this.

  • @jacobbaer785
    @jacobbaer7852 ай бұрын

    When I realized the song playing in the background, I went, "Aha!"

  • @JamesHomer-Boyd

    @JamesHomer-Boyd

    2 ай бұрын

    😂

  • @paulsengupta971

    @paulsengupta971

    2 ай бұрын

    It's a lot to take on.

  • @Bigaitch

    @Bigaitch

    2 ай бұрын

    Sadly the sun wasn't always shining ....I'll get my coat.

  • @meijiturtle3814
    @meijiturtle38142 ай бұрын

    Very poetic, a memorial of lost youth, tinged with nostalgia. A great musical accompaniment too.

  • @HenrysAdventures
    @HenrysAdventures2 ай бұрын

    That was a great video. Always nice to hear people's railway related memories! Its funny how we've had these short lived but fondly remembered services. About 10 years later there was that Anglia Railways service to Basingstoke which came and went within a couple of years.

  • @Trainspotting_Mayhem
    @Trainspotting_Mayhem2 ай бұрын

    I still remember the train trip where I fell in love with the railway. When I was about 4, I was on a HST and was travelling to London and then when we got to London, we took the London Underground and when I went on the underground, I enjoyed it so much that I started watching videos on KZread about the Underground. Now I'm 18, and I still have a deep passion for the railways.

  • @Jonsku124Transit

    @Jonsku124Transit

    2 ай бұрын

    Hi TM

  • @EppelheimTV

    @EppelheimTV

    2 ай бұрын

    I also fell in love with railways and transit due to the London Underground. Which is weird, as I am not even from the UK!

  • @BibTheBoulderTheOriginalOne

    @BibTheBoulderTheOriginalOne

    2 ай бұрын

    Aged just 13 I remember seeing one of the 'new' HST's. I was train-spotting at Birmingham New Street with my brother. Lucky for us the old driver invited us in to see the controls, and what an impact that had on a very impressionable 13 year old. I have now recently retired, but can tell you my career choice was made for me that fateful day in Birmingham, and I now look back with great affection at my time spent driving those magnificent trains.

  • @cashawX10
    @cashawX102 ай бұрын

    Important message at the end their Geoff ! Heading into my 50's and I remember commuting to Burgess Hill every day in the mid-90's. The final slam door trains mixed with more modern Thameslink stock. The station master at Burgess Hill who was the spitting image of Hank Marvin. All nostaligia, will always be fondly remembered by me...

  • @davidf2281

    @davidf2281

    2 ай бұрын

    I do miss the slam-doors.

  • @malcolmcorry2999

    @malcolmcorry2999

    2 ай бұрын

    Beautiful video, Geoff. Nostalgia. My family and I returned from 3 wonderful years in Australia in 1975 and getting on the train at Haywards Heath to Victoria, a fellow passenger said he had’nt seen me for a couple of weeks. Then onto the 1950’s corridor carriage with extra soft seats.

  • @chriskeene
    @chriskeene2 ай бұрын

    the final chord playing just as the rear train lights disappear was perfect editing

  • @geofftech2

    @geofftech2

    2 ай бұрын

    You spotted it! Ha HAA thank you!

  • @JMWflicks
    @JMWflicks2 ай бұрын

    Thanks Geoff. I've just spent a weekend in Edinburgh with my wife, and with a morning to spare, and a visit to my brother near Newhaven in the early afternoon, we decided to walk on the footpath from Haymarket to Newhaven along the track of the former Caledonian line from Dalry Junction to Leith North. A delightful walk but evoking memories from my childhood of riding on this line when it was still in service up to April 1962. Bitter-sweet. London suburban railways are almost all still there. Edinburgh, capital of Scotland, lost them all.

  • @southcalder

    @southcalder

    2 ай бұрын

    It may yet carry something on rails. Edinburgh City Council want to use it (now known as the Roseburn Path) for the Granton extension of the Trams, currently in the early planning stages. It’s meeting resistance though, as it’s a very popular walking and cycling route. But, a keen eye will notice that the concrete base for a turnout towards the Roseburn Path exists on the current tram line between Haymarket and Murrayfield.

  • @andrewchivers509
    @andrewchivers5092 ай бұрын

    I grew up in Earlsfield in the 60s. My nostalgia was sitting on top of the air raid shelter at the end of the garden counting the number of carriages of each train as it headed towards Wimbledon or Waterloo. My Mum (and neighbours) had the patience of a saint as I yelled out how many each train had. I loved the 4Subs. My Mum is no longer with us. Thanks for this Geoff.

  • @geordieal
    @geordieal2 ай бұрын

    Ticking away, the moments that make up a dull day, waiting for trains that happen to go your way. Kicking around on a platform now in your hometown, waiting for trains or a bus replacement your way…

  • @adrianellison
    @adrianellison2 ай бұрын

    Thanks for a soulful and reflective video Geoff. Reminds me of my own 1990s commute from Windsor to Paddington on Network Southeast liveried slam-door class 117s (and often a bubble car 121 on the Windsor branch). Those frosty mornings at Slough listening to HSTs hurtling through waiting for the chug of the local trains on platform 5. Now all replaced by the electric Elizabeth line, which would have made my then onward journey to Liverpool Street oh so much better.

  • @Bigaitch
    @Bigaitch2 ай бұрын

    What a fantastic, thought provoking and emotive video. Very powerful to watch and very absorbing. Great work Geoff, keep up the good, no excellent , work.

  • @phildaly3561
    @phildaly35612 ай бұрын

    Nice sentiment. I've recently started going on mini-random train adventures during my lunch hour on the days when I'm in the office, as have a Zone 1-6 travelcard on the weekly season. Grab a coffee, plug in a podcast and just go for a ride. Helps satisfy my "where does that go?" curiosity, is basically free, as I already have the travelcard, but also means the season isn't purely for A to B commuting, which has definite mental health benefits. Last week was Northern City lines out of Moorgate, as occurred to me I'd never been on that bit before. Also, even at 50, managing to grab that front spot on the DLR still brings joy, even when it's just a jaunt to Lewisham!

  • @geofftech2

    @geofftech2

    2 ай бұрын

    lovely stuff, Curiosity IS free yes!

  • @pwhitewick
    @pwhitewick2 ай бұрын

    Yeah... I am always here for Geoff Marshall banger. Epic my man. Big Love.

  • @SkeletonSyskey
    @SkeletonSyskey2 ай бұрын

    Seeing The Network Southeast booklet brings back a lot of memories.

  • @CraigCollins1968-oz9go
    @CraigCollins1968-oz9go2 ай бұрын

    Thanks Geoff, lovely words said. I lost my wife just before the clocks went back, so I now enjoy the nostalgia just looking back a month now and reflecting on how times change in the blink of an eye. Thank You❤

  • @geofftech2

    @geofftech2

    2 ай бұрын

    My goodnes Craig, my condolences. Thank you for commenting. Take a train ride? it always works for me. take care sir.

  • @CraigCollins1968-oz9go

    @CraigCollins1968-oz9go

    2 ай бұрын

    @@geofftech2 Thank You. Your videos always give me a great way to escape for a few minutes.

  • @markweir2988
    @markweir298813 күн бұрын

    I have many memories of commuting in from Brockley to London waterloo in the 80s then moved out to belvedere and commuting from Abbey Wood to charing Cross in the 90s. Now I live in Hampshire and drive to work. I just remember being 16 in the mid eighties and feeling so grown up. 40 years later I wish I could have that feeling again. Time flys.

  • @BibTheBoulderTheOriginalOne
    @BibTheBoulderTheOriginalOne2 ай бұрын

    I spent 30 years commuting from Derby to London and back. Sometimes 6 days a week, frequently on a Sunday. My most pleasing memories are of the old HST's, especially those with the old Valenta engines in them. I can say in all honesty that while all around me people would be nodding off I never once slept for even a second. I retired in 2022, but when I look back I can honestly say being a train driver on the Midland Main Line was an honour and a pleasure...

  • @user-xq6me6pd7q
    @user-xq6me6pd7q2 ай бұрын

    I commuted for 22 years into Canon Street or Victoria and trudged to either Farringdon Road for my first 12 years or Television Centre for the following 10. Returns to Kent early in the morning after a night shift were the only time I got a seat on an almost empty train so I am quite happy that I don't have to do that again and haven't for 16 years.

  • @85flintstone
    @85flintstone2 ай бұрын

    What a strangely, beautiful, melancholic video. It is an area of the country I have no link to but somehow felt strangely nostalgic for it. And a reminder of the relentless march to our ultimate destination.

  • @kevinhunt1468
    @kevinhunt14682 ай бұрын

    One of the most beautiful videos you have ever made. So lovely

  • @richardarmstrong6513
    @richardarmstrong65132 ай бұрын

    I adore videos like this and no one does it better than Geoff, I used to work in Watford and lived in Harpenden. The 321 bus was unreliable, so I used to get the Thameslink to St Albans and then the little train over to Watford. Did this for three years. Lovely memories. The memories of the ticking clocks have come flooding back. I now commute between Diss and Liv Street twice a week and it's just not the same. Thanks so much for the memories Geoff

  • @kojo1355
    @kojo13552 ай бұрын

    Would love to see more videos like this Geoff. You’ve got me reminiscing. Thinking about London Waterloo the first time I came to London as a 7 year old and how much it’s changed in the 35 years since. Also riding the slammers on the Portsmouth main line and changing onto the old tube stock(all in white London transport livery) on the Northern line to Belsize Park. Good times. Thank you for rekindling those memories 👍🏾

  • @PokhrajRoy.
    @PokhrajRoy.2 ай бұрын

    The Nostalgia hitting hard like a Thameslink train going to Guildford

  • @KoreaEnjoyer
    @KoreaEnjoyer2 ай бұрын

    I only moved to London last summer and always had to switch at West Brompton for the District line from the Overground. In September of last year I moved somewhere else and didn't have to use the Overground anymore, instead I would just get on the District at Wimbledon to Earl's Court. Every time I pass through West Brompton I look out the window and look across the platforms and see the Overground and I feel so much nostalgia. Even though it was only last summer, it feels like 10 years ago. So much has changed in just a year. Whenever I ride the Overground from Clapham Junction up towards Willesden Junction all the memories of those commutes come flooding back. Since I only used that route in the summer until I moved in September, all the memories are associated with warmth and clear blue skies. My life was so different back then and was populated by different people and events. All of that comes flooding back whenever I pass through West Brompton without fail.

  • @alanwest7773
    @alanwest77732 ай бұрын

    I left school 40 years ago. My first job was commuting to London Liverpool Street. Enjoyed it. Good memories. Seems like it happened recently. The station has changed, the trains have changed even the line has changed. Actually the whole world has changed.

  • @MinifigJez
    @MinifigJez2 ай бұрын

    Wow, we would have been hanging out on Guildford platforms about the same time as each other. Haven’t been to Guildford station in YEARS though, so had no idea the platform had been extended, and I remember that beautiful old signal box well. Great video, thanks for the memories.

  • @egpx
    @egpx2 ай бұрын

    Magnificent Geoff, how seemingly mundane things in your past can have a huge significance now. What's more, it was accompanied by Tim's wonderful rendition of Take On Me.

  • @JonRennie-is6ek
    @JonRennie-is6ek2 ай бұрын

    This is wonderful Geoff, I especially like the "Take on Me" arrangement and your use of some of the lyrics. As a 50-something man like yourself I find myself nostalgic for a lot of things, a lot of the time, and it's good to know I am not alone. And nor are you!

  • @Skyraider4171
    @Skyraider41712 ай бұрын

    Lovely video Geoff. As someone who now happily lives in Stoneleigh it has resonance for me. Just to part fill in a gap, I moved to Farncombe in September 1995 and the West Croydon to Guildford service was still running then. I remember I deliberately went shopping for my house in Croydon so I could go on this service and little railway adventure. Thanks for stirring up some happy memories.

  • @davidpiper3652
    @davidpiper36522 ай бұрын

    Geoff, you are exceptionally good at making this type of video.

  • @22pcirish
    @22pcirish2 ай бұрын

    I’ve just completed 38 years railway service (with another 4 to go) yet it seems like just yesterday that I climbed the steps to the offices at Brighton station to start my career in April 1986!

  • @alexdreamer9950
    @alexdreamer99502 ай бұрын

    What a beautiful and very nostalgic video Geoff. Absolutely loved it. I feel this way about the line and stops along the Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth line, as that's the line i had to travel along to get to university in Aberystwyth. I feel a nostalgic ride in the making. Thank you Geoff

  • @zeeshan7156
    @zeeshan71562 ай бұрын

    your storytelling is amazing. i could feel each emotion and this video brought a tear to my eyes. i’m only 22 and i found my love for trains through your secrets of the underground series and have enjoyed my journeys since and thanks to you geoff, i also currently have and forever will have beautiful memories and nostalgia linked to trains.

  • @StuRBarber
    @StuRBarber2 ай бұрын

    A lovely video Geoff! It’s soo true about just enjoying every moment you can and making those memories.

  • @markbulla1851
    @markbulla1851Ай бұрын

    I really enjoyed this video, Geoff. What a nicely done story.

  • @hologram1211
    @hologram12112 ай бұрын

    Thank you Geoff, as a resident of Bookham during the late 80s and early 90s I often travelled to Guildford on the train and remember how annoying it was to have to change at Effingham Junction just one stop down the line from Bookham because trains didn't run all the way to Guildford. Having recently returned to the area its a great improvement that they do now go all the way without having to change! I don't recall Thameslink services though but thanks for a nostalgic trip down memory lane in a section of the rail network I know very well. ❤

  • @paulmark63
    @paulmark632 ай бұрын

    Hi Geoff Paul in Orpington I would say one of your finest videos you done very well done 🎉

  • @simonwood6932
    @simonwood69322 ай бұрын

    A fantastic video that brought back many memories for me of commuting to London from Guildford in the early 1990s. The seemingly glorious summer evenings made up for the discomfort of travelling in hot over crowded trains. I have lived back in New Zealand for 21 years so it is poignant looking back my time in Guildford and environs especially when the clocks here have recently gone back for winter.

  • @johnrafferty8087
    @johnrafferty80872 ай бұрын

    Great Video. Tear in my eyes. Remember back then

  • @KevinTheCaravanner
    @KevinTheCaravanner2 ай бұрын

    What a beautiful video. So personal. So melancholy. It’s moved me to dwell on the ordinary everyday of the past that has gone. Cherish the present because tomorrow it will be history.

  • @andyh444
    @andyh4442 ай бұрын

    That was lovely. And very touching ❤

  • @philiptaylor7902
    @philiptaylor79022 ай бұрын

    What a lovely video, thanks Geoff, and thanks Tim.

  • @GamingMastersYT
    @GamingMastersYTАй бұрын

    The fact you don't have 500K+ subscribers yet is criminal. The amount of time and energy you put into videos - You do so many shots which aren't just a simple "talking head" camera point... Going , placing the camera down, going back, filming it, rotating the camera, doing the same thing etc.. No doubt not one takes either!

  • @geofftech2

    @geofftech2

    Ай бұрын

    thank you! that's very kind, and humbly appreciate it. It does take a lot of work, and yes ... several multiple takes! the end product is worth it thought, i do love mkaing the videos that are like this.

  • @jamesdaw131
    @jamesdaw1312 ай бұрын

    Enjoyed this. Nice change of pace.

  • @lukespillane
    @lukespillane2 ай бұрын

    Loved this video. Loved even more that you called out the video duration, ha! Always made with such love Geoff!

  • @geofftech2

    @geofftech2

    2 ай бұрын

    Ha ha! Thanks Luke 😅

  • @andybaker2456
    @andybaker24562 ай бұрын

    It's strange how a train line can evoke such nostalgia! Back in the 90s and early 2000s, I was also a regular Thameslink user. Initially, I used the stretch from Tooting to Blackfriars when I lived in Mitcham. Then I changed jobs and was no longer working in central London, but I still caught the Thameslink from Tooting to Wimbledon. Then I moved to Sutton, when I would catch the Thameslink from West Sutton to Wimbledon. Once again, I changed jobs and was back in central London, when I spent many years going backwards and forwards between West Sutton and either City Thameslink or Farringdon, depending on my mood! I realise that this information is of no use to anyone, but it felt good to put it in writing! 😁 These days, my Thameslink experiences are limited to the occasional social trip up to central London from Redhill. How different it is now, with the sleek 12 carriage trains!

  • @christopherbutler7588
    @christopherbutler75882 ай бұрын

    Great video We cannot stop that clock so enjoy every minute of what we got. 😢😊😊

  • @neilpearson157
    @neilpearson1572 ай бұрын

    i really enjoyed that Geoff. Thank you. The piano music reminded me of one of my favourite TV series, Hill Street Blues with the station sergeant's memorable line "Let's do it to them before they do it to us"' 11:12

  • @richardmellor9625
    @richardmellor96252 ай бұрын

    Thank you Geoff, that was an uplifting delight to watch.

  • @Andrew-xg5ge
    @Andrew-xg5ge2 ай бұрын

    In October 1990 I travelled on a Thameslink Class 319 train from Luton through to Guildford, via West Croydon. This was on one of those Network SouthEast days.

  • @robinpayne125
    @robinpayne1252 ай бұрын

    A beautiful reminiscence. When the first bit of piano started, I thought "this reminds me of a Tim Traveller video". The choice of music and its slower tempo so perfectly matched the mood of this. I'm put in mind of my commute for my first job out of school in the late '90s. Every morning I went to Gravesend station in time to catch the 07.04 that came from Gillingham up to London, but I changed at Dartford for the stopping service to Erith, where I was working. Erith had staggered platforms so the footbridge was at the rear of the train, so I would go right to the end of Platform 1 (now platform 0) to get on the last car. The sound of the 465 crossing the pointwork into the platform was very distinctive and I can still hear it in my mind to this day. It was a cross platform from 2 to 1 at Dartford to another 465 on to Erith. Run by Connex but still in NSE livery. In the evenings, if I bunked off a few minutes early I could get a slightly earlier than usual train that for some reason was formed of a 4 CEP, and I could treat myself to a ride in the compartment section.

  • @user-ux5zf7sn8f
    @user-ux5zf7sn8f2 ай бұрын

    Great video Geoff, as always. I live local to Bookham, so I know Effingham Junction well and have waited for connections there many times over the years (decades!) ....... never wasted time when you love railways and countryside!

  • @poggs
    @poggs2 ай бұрын

    What a wonderful, well-produced, gentle video!

  • @philclennell
    @philclennell2 ай бұрын

    Geoff in very philosophical mode in this latest video.

  • @smjrn63
    @smjrn632 ай бұрын

    Thank you for sharing your memories. I think after we hit a certain age, our own mortality leads to reminiscing about our lives. Some of those memories might not seem important to others. I know being over "50" I have done the same thing. I truly enjoyed this video.

  • @geofftech2

    @geofftech2

    2 ай бұрын

    thanks Sharon, kind comment!

  • @GBRf66715_
    @GBRf66715_2 ай бұрын

    Beautiful - made me get emotional at the end. My earliest memories of railways was seeing 5043 'Earl of Mount Edgcumbe' at Coleshill Parkway as a wee lad.

  • @DadgeCity
    @DadgeCity2 ай бұрын

    There ought to be a Train Changers Club for those people who've spent umpteen hours of their lives waiting for their connection to arrive. I never really experienced this until I went to live in Hungary and ended up getting to know Vámosgyörk station rather well.

  • @paulketchupwitheverything767

    @paulketchupwitheverything767

    2 ай бұрын

    All the little things that you see every day and that are so familiar. Then you move home or change jobs and it all disappears from your life and is replaced by something else.

  • @cannedham8630
    @cannedham86302 ай бұрын

    That was a great video on your nostalgia! Time flies, and we do need to make most of the time we have as the years just go! Got a chance to see a mate in South Wales at the end of May. So, I purchased a rail card, got an excellent deal, and travelling all the way by train, which I'm very looking forward to! I've been meaning to see the country by train for years now. Glad I've got round to doing it!

  • @dooniskea
    @dooniskeaАй бұрын

    So much care and thought went into this video. I've never been to the places you're describing but I guess we all have our own Effingham Junction. Thanks Geoff.

  • @geofftech2

    @geofftech2

    Ай бұрын

    Thank you 👍☺️

  • @travelswithjess
    @travelswithjess2 ай бұрын

    Great video Geoff! You are good at telling a story 😊

  • @paulbarber1960
    @paulbarber19602 ай бұрын

    Definitely did, I worked trains from luton to selhurst and was relieved by selhurst drivers. I even stayed in the cab to Guildford one Saturday. It started to fall to pieces when no relief was available at selhurst 😢 De-train and empty on to the depot..

  • @merlijnwiersma7801
    @merlijnwiersma78012 ай бұрын

    That was a quality piece of audiovisual art. Thank you!

  • @isashax
    @isashax2 ай бұрын

    What a beautiful nostalgic video. Loved it!

  • @paulatrahern1336
    @paulatrahern13362 ай бұрын

    I just love your videos! I was watching it thinking ‘should I be bothered about a train going to Guildford?’ But yes! You make me want to be bothered about a train from the 90s which I never took and never likely to ever take! Thank you so much for the joy you bring.

  • @andrewr2825
    @andrewr28252 ай бұрын

    This is a reason I watch your videos Geoff. Reflecting on the past, like we all do - I just think this is up there with your best.

  • @CopenhagenRailProductions
    @CopenhagenRailProductions2 ай бұрын

    Seeing this video, actually makes me wanna shed a tear. I have fond memories of the Copenhagen S-tog, when i was a schoolboy in the late 2000s/early 2010s. Remembering the old 2nd Generation S-trains, spending many hours of standing on a footbridge that's about 2/3 of a mile west of Albertslund S-train station and watch trains go by. Many hours were spend on Albertslund station itself and the surrounding area. And as you say, yes. We all get older. A little more grey, a little more wrinkly but most importantly, more wiser. I'm only 18 days away from turning 25. remembering the S-trains, like they were in the 2000s makes me feel old, (yes, i know. i shouldn't speak, considering my age... lol), i remember, again, the old 2nd Generation S-trains from the 1960s, and when the current ones were brand new. Sometimes, i can even feel my heart crack from nostalgia. Despite that i'm only (almost) 25, i remember so much of the past 15 - 20 years of the S-trains and of my childhood, that sometimes, i just feel like crying for the sake of nostalgia. Yes, it hurts like mad on the soul, but we all gotta follow time. The Danish railways might not have much left from my childhood, but i can atleast keep them as fond memories, from when times were much simpler. Thanks for making this video, Goeff. Yes, i might've shed a tear or two, but i did it for nostalgia. Cheers on, mate. Greetings from across the Nordic Sea

  • @apuldram

    @apuldram

    2 ай бұрын

    Very sad to see the state of the “new” S-tog trains. Some of the best ever designed commuter trains.

  • @AliGroves450

    @AliGroves450

    2 ай бұрын

    Yeah... I miss the SWT Blue 450's or SWT as a whole. How time flies eh?

  • @paulketchupwitheverything767

    @paulketchupwitheverything767

    2 ай бұрын

    i went through a couple of years (2005/06) of going to Hellerup regularly and would take the train from the airport through Copenhagen. My image of everything there is frozen in time from that period.

  • @CopenhagenRailProductions

    @CopenhagenRailProductions

    2 ай бұрын

    @@apuldram when there’s no grafitti, they will look nice, as they’re currently going through a midlife refurbishment. SA 8142 is the first to have been given the full refurbishment. The remaining 134 sets will follow up over the next year and a half

  • @CopenhagenRailProductions

    @CopenhagenRailProductions

    2 ай бұрын

    @@paulketchupwitheverything767 oh yeah, back when the Øresundståg were the regular, being both brand new and still under delivery (111 sets build in 12 years. Impressive!) I’m already missing seeing them during their glory days on Kystbanen between Copenhagen and Helsingør…

  • @ConstanzeWeber
    @ConstanzeWeber2 ай бұрын

    That arrangement of "Take On Me" had Tim written all over it! Great video!

  • @davemoon201
    @davemoon2012 ай бұрын

    A beautiful video Geoff. I used to spend a lot of time on the A60’s on the met. I’ve also got memories of summer/winter sunsets thrashing through metro land gazing out the window with the Walkman playing. Nostalgia is a wonderful thing. Sometimes it’s nice to go back and reflect on even the little things. Great video.

  • @martincox2735
    @martincox27352 ай бұрын

    A really nice video Geoff - thanks! We all just have to make the most of life whilst we can...👍

  • @englishmaninmarktredwitz2228
    @englishmaninmarktredwitz22282 ай бұрын

    Wow! Pure art Geoff. Thanks

  • @user-lp3wb3vv8n
    @user-lp3wb3vv8n2 ай бұрын

    A delightful video, great production with lovely sound track and of course a great train and life story as always from Geoff (and help from Tim)

  • @stevewareing8525
    @stevewareing85252 ай бұрын

    Nostalgia is brilliant Geoff, the older you get the more you have. That is as long as you can remember them and that "Remembering" helps keep you young. 😉👍. PS: You have great taste when it comes to music. 👌.

  • @paulsengupta971

    @paulsengupta971

    2 ай бұрын

    Nostalgia's not what it used to be...

  • @LancashireLass
    @LancashireLass2 ай бұрын

    I am sitting here with an utterly stupid grin on my face. Thankyou.

  • @PlanetoftheDeaf
    @PlanetoftheDeaf2 ай бұрын

    Lovely video. Funnily, on a nostalgic theme on Saturday I visited Ilford for the first time since the late 90s...

  • @bobsrailrelics
    @bobsrailrelics2 ай бұрын

    This is a wonderful video, full of modern nostalgia and personal recollections. I do remember when Thameslink went to Guildford, I actually planned a journey once which didn't actually happen. I thought the piano might be Tim, it fitted the whole thing very well. Thank you

  • @Karlinski73
    @Karlinski732 ай бұрын

    Beautiful storytelling, beautifully edited. Bravo.

  • @alexcane6458
    @alexcane64582 ай бұрын

    I commuted to school in Guildford around the same time (same line). Thanks for the memories and weird to think I may have crossed paths with you in *this* universe - no alternative needed...

  • @mistakay9019
    @mistakay90192 ай бұрын

    lovely change of pace Geoff. Very poetic at times :)

  • @DriverReg455864
    @DriverReg4558642 ай бұрын

    After Thameslink ceased running to Guildford, SWT started running Guildford to West Croydon services and only ran Guildford to Waterloo on peak services. It was also the time when the South Central (initially Connex and later South Central/Southern) ran in their place running 2 morning and 2 evening services. One was to London Bridge which was a class 400 and the other was to Victoria and it was a 319. Eventually the 319 was replaced by a 455 and the 400 was replaced by a 377 and these services continued up until COVID where they stopped.

  • @DriverReg455864

    @DriverReg455864

    2 ай бұрын

    To add to this before SWT started running to West Croydon they originally ran to Horsham to try and grab some of the revenue off Connex, as was the case at the start of privatisation (Connex ran to Bournemouth for similar reasons) but it wasn't worth it in the end so when Thameslink stopped that's when SWT decided to run to West Croydon instead.

  • @timrollpickering

    @timrollpickering

    2 ай бұрын

    @@DriverReg455864 It was more mixed than that. Upon privatisation they added both Horsham (extending trains from Dorking with no intermediate stops) and the Epsom to West Croydon shuttle. The latter was later extended to Guildford. They also introduced some semi-fast trains - at one point you could get from Waterloo to Epsom in just 24 minutes, great for my commute home from school, rather less fun for passengers for Raynes Park who didn't realise it didn't stop there and had to watch as it sailed through five stations non-stop.

  • @robertpryer9751

    @robertpryer9751

    2 ай бұрын

    Always think there should be a coastal service from Epsom via Dorking to Littlehampton, Bognor or something, I mean the A24 links it all, so y not

  • @timrollpickering

    @timrollpickering

    2 ай бұрын

    @@robertpryer9751 The Sutton to Horsham line was once part of a longer route to Portsmouth but this got diverted via Gatwick in the 1970s. Even in the 1990s announcements at Epsom still felt the need to give change details for "Passengers for Littlehampton, Bognor Regis or Portsmouth Harbour via Chichester..."

  • @robertpryer9751

    @robertpryer9751

    2 ай бұрын

    @@timrollpickering thanks, but now I reckon there's a gap for it

  • @UnderwurldChris
    @UnderwurldChris2 ай бұрын

    Beautiful video. I've been to and from, and through, Guildford many times and occasionally through EJ up to London or to wonderful Bookham. Love the A-ha.

  • @golfzulu2897
    @golfzulu28972 ай бұрын

    Great concept and execution Geoff.